Interview: Pusha T Talks "My God," Consequence Tweets & "Fear of God"

This past weekend, the Internet was going ham over Pusha T’s “My God,” the first single from this upcoming mixtape, Fear of God. The Hitboy-produced track featured King Push at his lyrical finest as he reflected on a life spent moving that snow white. The track only raised expectations that much higher for Fear Of God, as well as his upcoming G.O.O.D. Music solo debut. We got on the horn with Pusha while he was in Los Angeles for the GRAMMYs to talk about what to expect from his mixtape (which he says should drop any day now), his reaction to Consequence’s tweets about stealing lyrics, and why he let the dealer take full advantage. EGHCK!

“Basically, my manager, Steven, had continuously told me about this beat Hitboy made specifically for me. That he hears me on it, that I have to do it, so on and so forth. With that being said, I was like, ‘Damn. Alright, let me check it out.’ And once I heard it, I loved the energy of it. You know, to me it’s one of those rapper’s rapper-type of records. It’s just a canvas. There’s not a whole lot to it. Sonically, it has the sound that keeps you interested, but it still gives you that flat canvas that you can just black out on, as an artist.

“[When I rhyme about ‘unrecognized greatness’ it’s because] I feel like, at times, there are a lot of things that go unrecognized. It’s nothing personal, it’s just basically that the stars have to align in this industry. And I don’t think they’ve ever fully aligned for myself. That [credit score line] is true talk, you know? I think, every once in a while, a lot of people lose a lot of greatness in their raps, because they don’t show any type of vulnerability. And vulnerability doesn’t always have to mean emotionally hurt. Sometimes you do get taken advantage of. And the dealer did take advantage of me. You know what I’m saying? Mind you, I’m talking from the perspective of a man with no credit, and a lot of cash, trying to buy a car. Like, that’s tough. How do you do that? You’ve got a lot of cash, no credit, and no credit history. What do you think the dealer’s going to do? He’s going to treat you like nothing. But, at the same time, you have to have that car. So you pay over sticker price, the cash was underhanded. A lot of people comment on what one should talk about, and what one shouldn’t talk about, and what they’re tired of hearing. I can only give inserts to my life. That’s the hip-hop that I know. If you want to hear about a whole bunch of tear-jerking and heartbreaking then, you’ll have to listen elsewhere.

“He said that I stole his lines? Wow. Nah, I haven’t really heard much about it. Everyone who’s been hitting me up has been telling me how crazy this song is. I don’t know. I mean, I haven’t taken anything from Consequence, or anybody else, for that matter. Just for the record. I’ve been in the studio with Cons, and we’ve talked, and numerous days we’ve laughed, and...I don’t know. I missed that one. The way I’ve got to look at it now: I don’t even know if that’s for me. I can’t even believe anything like that’s for me, very honestly. I mean, until, you know, he told me something like that. I don’t know what everybody else has got going on, but ‘My God’ is an awesome record. [Laughs.]”

On the Fear of God mixtape and his upcoming album

“The mixtape is done. It’s 13 tracks. I’m rapping on some original production; I have some stuff from Nottz, Swizz, definitely Kanye, and some throwback instrumentals. I’m just waiting on a couple features before I let it go. ‘My God’ is definitely going to be on Fear Of God. As you can see with ‘My God,’ it’s that sophisticated street hip-hop that people have come to know me for. It’s going to be more of that. That actual fanbase means so much to me, that I have a vision for how I want it heard, and the actual people that I want on it. And I reached out to them and they gave me their word that they’re going to do it. I don’t want to say [who I’m waiting on.] Everybody is busy, and everybody has things to do, so I just really want to wait on that. But February it’s definitely coming out.”

“The album is a whole other monster. That’s something that me and Ye have been working on. I’d like to say we’ve got a good five records. I don’t know how many we’re going to go for in total, but we’ve got five down, and we definitely have some more to go. We’re just going to create until we feel the project is a well-rounded one. This is my dream. [Kanye will be executive producing] and it has a lot to do with his creative vision, and what he sees for me, and it’s been coming out amazing. I’m personally hoping for a late summer release. That’s my goal.”